Boat drivers at the Marine Base and Okrika water claimed to have stopped people throwing plastic waste into the river, “but the response we get from people is that there is no place to trash their waste except the river,” says Godwill.
It is unfortunate that plastics have begun to kill people, but the statistics of plastic pollution in Nigeria show that we will get there, says Salisu Abdullahi, founder of E-trash2Cash, an organisation that provides cash in exchange for plastic waste or social benefits.
In September 2021, the Nigerian government joined the World Economic Forum’s Global Plastic Action Partnership, along with Indonesia, Ghana, and Vietnam, to strengthen national efforts to combat plastic pollution. As of May 2023, the World Economic Forum and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) have pledged their support for Nigeria’s efforts to combat plastic pollution.
According to Abdullahi, large amounts of plastic generated in Nigeria are not properly collected from the environment, resulting in waste on the land and polluting the marine ecosystem.
He wants the government to conduct effective grassroots awareness campaigns for local communities to understand the effects and dangers of plastic pollution, adding that the government should support local plastic collectors who give money in exchange for plastic.
The funding to the social enterprises to scale their work will make a difference, he continued, and “it is a way to maintain a clean environment, create green jobs, and assist low-income people in earning additional income.”
Dr. William Iyama, Councillor, Waste Management Association of Nigeria, told The Colonist Report Africa that plastic pollution in Rivers State has decreased due to sensitization, and people are now more aware of their plastic waste, but the challenge has been the inland waterways where the plastic settles.
Iyama noted that the problem is the blockage of drainages and people ends up throwing plastic into the river, which blocks the drainages. “And most of these plastics find their way into the ocean and we end up eating them.”
The main issue facing boat operators, according to Iyama, is that plastic ruins their engines. Sanitization along the coast is the only way to get rid of the plastic debris that ends up floating in the waterways.
Editing by Elfredah Kevin-Alerechi